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The paper discusses algorithmic priority inversion in mission-critical machine inference pipelines used in modern neural-network-based perception subsystems and describes a solution to mitigate its effect. In general, priority inversion occurs in computing systems when computations that are "less important" are performed together with or ahead of those that are "more important." Significant priority inversion occurs in existing machine inference pipelines when they do not differentiate between critical and less critical data. We describe a framework to resolve this problem and demonstrate that it improves a perception system's ability to react to critical inputs, while at the same time reducing platform cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Algebraic Circuit for a multivariate polynomial P is a computational model for constructing the polynomial P using only additions and multiplications. It is a syntactic model of computation, as opposed to the Boolean Circuit model, and hence lower bounds for this model are widely expected to be easier to prove than lower bounds for Boolean circuits. Despite this, we do not have superpolynomial lower bounds against general algebraic circuits of depth 3 (except over constant-sized finite fields) and depth 4 (over any field other than F2), while constant-depth Boolean circuit lower bounds have been known since the early 1980s. In this paper, we prove the first superpolynomial lower bounds against algebraic circuits of all constant depths over all fields of characteristic 0. We also observe that our super-polynomial lower bound for constant-depth circuits implies the first deterministic sub-exponential time algorithm for solving the Polynomial Identity Testing (PIT) problem for all small-depth circuits using the known connection between algebraic hardness and randomness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces a novel approach for integrating a compact mechanism into the Marine Predator Algorithm (MPA), subsequently proposing innovative parallel and communication strategies. The synergistic combination of these methodologies substantially augments the global search efficiency and accelerates the convergence rate of the original MPA. The paper culminates in presenting an enhanced version of the Marine Predator Algorithm, termed PCMPA, which leverages compact parallel technology. The performance of PCMPA, alongside a range of comparative algorithms, is rigorously evaluated using the CEC2013 benchmark test functions. These comparative algorithms encompass recent variants of MPA, PSO, DE, and other newly developed algorithms. Evaluation results reveal that PCMPA outperforms its counterparts in a more extensive array of test functions. To corroborate PCMPA's efficacy in real-world scenarios, the algorithm is applied to parameter optimization in Backpropagation neural network (BNN) and targeted engineering optimization challenges. This application demonstrates that PCMPA consistently achieves enhanced performance in practical implementations. • The study presents a novel variant of the Marine Predators Algorithm, dubbed PCMPA. • The paper benchmarks PCMPA against other Marine Predators Algorithm variants and other Algorithms. • The research applies PCMPA to optimize parameters of BNNs and to tackle engineering optimization challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate accurately unique and advanced wave properties in elastic metamaterials advanced and efficient numerical methods are needed. The paper presents an extended boundary integral equation method for simulating elastic wave scattering by doubly periodic arrays of rectangular crack-like voids. The convergence of the arising double series is proved and the convergence rate is carefully analyzed. Employing the results of the investigation of the convergence rate, an algorithm for fast numerical calculation of double series is proposed to reduce computational costs through preliminary analytical evaluation and the proposed summation strategy. The efficiency of the extended boundary integral equation method is demonstrated and examples of the calculated transmission coefficients exhibiting the influence of the introduction of the doubly periodic array are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to develop an algorithm to pretest an industrial portfolio on a new scale. Portfolios include complex and uncertain projects at the front-end phase. The study, therefore, proposes a procedure that helps decision-makers to handle various complex projects and defines a common scale applicable to various kinds of industrial projects. Design/methodology/approach: Decision-makers can employ the preference algorithm to reach a common understanding. To this end, the current paper posits the organization of criteria in various project sets. A sexagesimal scale is developed based on project complexity and its ability to achieve broad impact, both these factors being gauged on a five-point scale of user-friendly numberings. Findings: The proposed algorithm shows the equivalence of industrial projects in different fields. Also, the algorithm articulates the status in terms of uncertainty, complexity, risk, and value of projects. The connections between decision-makers and criteria operate on the basis of the foreseen complexity, risk, and value. It can be said that this study exemplifies and visualizes the portfolio and criteria relationship. Research limitations/implications: The procedure covers contingency exercises at the front-end phase of a portfolio and supports decisions. However, updated information can change support positions. Originality/value: The paper presents original scoring guidance for portfolio complexity on a new scale. The scaling and scoring are adjustable and calibrated using the proposed sexagesimal system. It presents an original classification of project risk and value. The main contribution is the presented algorithm which can be used to pretest industrial portfolios composed of projects that vary in both size and context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to focus on the inclusion of the frequency behavior of grounding system effect on surge arrester (SA) model parameters' estimation. Design/methodology/approach: The grounding system impedance and its frequency behavior are the factors that have influence on the SA performance. Up to now, the grounding system impedance effect and the frequency behavior of the soil parameters have not been studied for the estimation of the parameters of the SA frequency-dependent model. In this paper, the grounding system's influence on the SA dynamic model has been simulated for rod- and counterpoise-shaped electrodes. Particle swarm optimization with a grey wolf optimization algorithm has been implemented as an optimization algorithm to adjust the parameters of the SA dynamic model. Findings: The results show that the frequency behavior of the grounding impedance and soil electrical parameters can impress the optimum parameters of the SA frequency-dependent model and should be considered for more reliable results. Also, the results evidence that the proposed optimization method provides more accurate results compared to other optimization methods. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this work is one of the first attempts to investigate the effect of frequency grounding system on SA frequency-dependent model parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A novel asynchronous network-based model is proposed in this paper for the sentiment analysis of online public opinions. This new model provides a new approach to analyze the evolution characteristics of online public opinion sentiments in complex environment. Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, a new sentiment analysis model is proposed based on the asynchronous network theory. Then the graphical evaluation and review technique is employed and extended to design the model-based sentiment analysis algorithms. Finally, simulations and real-world case studies are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed model. Findings: The dynamics of online public opinion sentiments are determined by both personal preferences to certain topics and the complex interactive influences of environmental factors. The application of appropriate quantitative models can improve the prediction of public opinion sentiment. Practical implications: The proposed model-based algorithms provide simple but effective ways to explore the complex dynamics of online public opinions. Case studies highlight the role of government agencies in shaping sentiments of public opinions on social topics. Originality/value: This paper proposes a new asynchronous network model for the dynamic sentiment analysis of online public opinions. It extends the previous static models and provides a new way to extract opinion evolution patterns in complex environment. Applications of the proposed model provide some new insights into the online public opinion management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a temporal second order two-grid difference scheme is proposed for the two-dimensional nonlinear time-fractional partial integro-differential equations with a weakly singular kernel. The first-order backward difference and L 1 formula are used in the temporal direction to estimate the first level of time, the L 2 − 1 σ formula and L 1 -type formula are used in the temporal direction for later time steps, and the central difference formula is used in the spatial directions. To improve the computational efficiency of nonlinear system, an efficient time two-grid algorithm is proposed. This algorithm firstly solves a nonlinear system on the coarse grid, and then the Lagrangian linear interpolation is applied on the coarse grid to estimate the function values on the fine grid. The stability and convergence of the two-grid difference scheme are analyzed by the energy method. The convergence order of the two-grid difference scheme is O (τ F 2 + τ C 4 + h x 2 + h y 2) , where τ F and τ C are the time step sizes of fine grid and coarse grid respectively, while h x and h y are the space step sizes. Numerical experiments show that the accuracy of the theoretical analysis and the efficiency of the two-grid algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bonobo optimizer (BO) is a recent metaheuristic algorithm inspired by the social behavior of bonobos. BO maintains a robust search strategy based on two distinct phases that involve interesting mechanisms, such as the fission–fusion method for selection and an efficient process for producing new candidate solutions. Despite its remarkable capacity, BO presents a critical flaw that corresponds to an inappropriate balance between exploration and exploitation. Under such conditions, suboptimal or even poor solutions can be obtained. This paper proposes a modified BO algorithm in which the trajectory of each search agent is modified dynamically through the adaptation of the main parameters of the algorithm. With this new mechanism, the algorithm allows for the exploration and exploitation of different regions of the solution space and determines the global optimum in a faster manner. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by considering two scenarios. One is the optimization of 23 benchmark functions and the second is the problem of power allocation in wireless networks. The results show that the proposed scheme enhances the performance of the basic BO method by increasing the robustness and providing a better solution quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the approximation and numerical realization of the Stokes system in 3D with Coulomb's slip boundary conditions. The weak velocity–pressure formulation leads to an implicit inequality type problem which is discretized by the P1+bubble/P1 elements. To regularize the discrete non-smooth slip term and to release the discrete impermeability condition the duality approach is used. For numerical realization of the resulting saddle-point problem two strategies are proposed, namely (i) its fixed-point formulation solved by the method of successive approximations (i i) the direct numerical solution of the saddle-point problem. The semi-smooth Newton method is used to solve non-smooth equations appearing in both these approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel importance-based persistent coverage for environments with hotspots. Multiple quadrotors are utilized to maintain coverage while acquiring high-quality information over prioritized regions by lowering the altitude. To achieve this, the approach utilizes distributed communication protocols and cost functions to address the tradeoff between wider coverage and better quality information. The cost functions determine three-dimensional waypoints based on coverage levels, sensor resolution, and Euclidean distance. Voronoi tessellations are used locally for efficient computation and collision avoidance. Trajectories of the quadrotors are generated based on quadrotor dynamics using error functions that take into account state information and desired waypoints. The proposed approach is validated through simulations, comparisons, and experiments for multi-agent systems under quadrotor dynamics. Further, metrics of performance analysis are formulated that show consistent coverage levels and differences to assess the novel importance-based approach. The simulations and experiments demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach, with prioritized regions receiving higher sensor resolution while maintaining persistent coverage of the environment. • Novel importance-based persistent coverage for information acquisition over hotspots. • Quadrotor waypoints based on information resolution and decaying environmental costs. • Distributed communication protocols for scalability and low computational complexity. • Real-time importance-based persistent coverage for multi-quadrotor dynamical systems. • Proposed coverage with varying velocities is verified by simulation and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a distributed economic dispatch problem (EDP) in smart grids, where each generator only communicates with its neighbors and minimizes its own cost in the presence of network-wide equality constraints and local capacity limits. Distributed algorithms to solve this problem have become an attractive focus of engineering research due to their multiple advantages. Many existing methods are time-triggered, whereas few works have been dedicated to solving the problem using an event-triggered approach. This problem gets more challenging when further accelerated convergence is desired. To solve such a problem, we carefully design an event-triggered parameter distributed accelerated algorithm, named as ET-PDA. On the one hand, the choice of different parameters in ET-PDA will lead to different momentum (Nesterov or heavy-ball) methods, which facilitates the accelerated convergence of the algorithm. On the other hand, the event-triggered mechanism in ET-PDA makes the time gap between two continuous interaction moments of each generator larger than the iteration interval, contributing to improved communication efficiency. In particular, ET-PDA achieves linear convergence when the local cost function of each generator is smooth and strongly convex, moreover, it precludes Zeno-like behavior. The effectiveness of ET-PDA is also verified through a series of simulation experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control input derived from model predictive control (MPC) scheme depends on the receding horizon whose length needs to be determined. Design length is also a trade-off between computational complexity and optimization metrics. To this end, a framework for adaptive selection of the horizon length has been developed for discrete systems in previous works. In this paper, this framework is extended to continuous nonlinear systems. A new algorithm is presented to solve the problem of how to adaptively select the horizon length. Then, according to the traditional method and the robust MPC scheme based on tubes, the recursive feasibility and robustness of the algorithm (the adaptive horizon nonlinear model predictive control, called AH-NMPC) for quasi-infinite time domain adaptive horizontal continuous-time nonlinear systems are proved. Finally, the NMPC controller is used to perform path-tracking experiments on an autonomous vehicle to verify the good effects of the algorithm (AH-NMPC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with model predictive control (MPC) for multisensor linear systems. In order to fully utilize information and achieve higher control accuracy, two fusion MPC algorithms are proposed. The first algorithm is named estimation-fusion model predictive controller (E-F MPC), which local estimations are fused and then fusion control input is obtained by the fusion estimation. The second algorithm is named control-fusion model predictive controller (C-F MPC), which fuses the control inputs obtained from local systems. The relationships, differences and complexity of the two algorithms are analyzed. The advantages of E-F MPC are that it is simple and easy to implement with high control accuracy, while the disadvantage is the bad robustness because of the heavy estimation, prediction and control tasks for the fusion node. For C-F MPC, with a small loss of accuracy, network throughput and computational cost of its fusion node will be greatly reduced, which makes it good robustness and flexibility. Simulation analysis verifies the effectiveness and correctness of the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies non-cooperative games, in which each player's local objective function depends on its own decisions as well as those of other players. In these games, each player's local objective function is differentiable, its decision is constrained by a local feasibility constraint, and the decisions of all players are coupled with an equality constraint. By analyzing the variational problem of the games, a distributed generalized Nash equilibrium seeking algorithm with fixed step sizes is developed based on the backward-reflected-forward–backward splitting. Each player performs a backward step followed by a forward–backward step, and the pseudo-gradient is evaluated at a reflection term. Moreover, the convergence of the proposed distributed algorithm is analyzed under standard assumptions using the operator theory and the convex analysis theory. Finally, the simulation results verify the effectiveness of the algorithm and the correctness of the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the spectral conjugate directions formulation for optimizing unconstrained problems. A novel modified algorithm is proposed based on the conjugate gradient coefficient method. The algorithm employs the Wolfe inexact line search conditions to determine the optimum step length at each iteration and selects the appropriate conjugate gradient coefficient accordingly. The algorithm is evaluated through several numerical experiments using various unconstrained functions. The results indicate that the algorithm is highly stable, regardless of the starting point, and has better convergence rates and efficiency compared to classical methods in certain cases. Overall, this research provides a promising approach to solving unconstrained optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the mirror descent algorithm for distributed optimization, where the underlying digraph is assumed to be weight-unbalanced. Within this framework, a novel distributed mirror descent algorithm based on gradient weighting technique is developed. Theoretically, different from the existing works, which prove that the function value corresponding to the estimates converge to the optimal value of the optimization problem, this paper proves that (1) the proposed algorithm can achieve exact convergence of the estimates to the solution of the optimization problem; and (2) the algorithm has a convergence rate O (1 T) with a given time horizon T. Further, taking into account the fact that the cost functions in many significant optimization problems are dynamic, the distributed online optimization based on the proposed algorithm is studied. Especially, it is shown that the individual regret of the proposed algorithm is bounded by O (T). Finally, the theoretical results are verified through some simulation examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementations that follow the functional programming paradigm are being used in more and more domains. As functional programming paradigm has mathematical reference transparency, refinement to functional programs contributes to improving the reliability of the transformation process and simplifying the refinement steps. However, it is a challenge to generate functional programs from specifications. Most existing transformation methods refine specifications into abstract algorithm-level programs based on loop invariants rather than functional programs. This paper proposes a novel functional program generation method based on the partition-recursion refinement rule. It establishes a novel program refinement framework based on functional theory for the first time. This is the first study to regard the whole program refinement process as a composition of abstract functions. This paper designs a recurrence-based algorithm design language (Radl+) and implements a software prototype to map Radl+ algorithms into executable Haskell programs. To prove the feasibility and efficiency of this method, this paper transforms the polynomial multiplication problem from a specification into an executable Haskell program. This case shows that compared with existing approaches, the proposed method can simplify the transformation steps and reduce the number of lines of generated code from 38 to 10. • Novel refinement framework provides a new approach to generating a functional program. • The composition of abstract functions explains the program refinement process. • Substitution rule and Recursion rule have none of the side effects. • Software prototype transforms the polynomial multiplication problem into Haskell program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recommender systems personalize content by recommending items to users. Item recommendation algorithms are evaluated by metrics that compare the positions of truly relevant items among the recommended items. To speed up the computation of metrics, recent work often uses sampled metrics where only a smaller set of random items and the relevant items are ranked. This paper investigates such sampled metrics in more detail and shows that they are inconsistent with their exact counterpart, in the sense that they do not persist relative statements, for example, recommender A is better than B, not even in expectation. Moreover, the smaller the sample size, the less difference there is between metrics, and for very small sample size, all metrics collapse to the AUC metric. We show that it is possible to improve the quality of the sampled metrics by applying a correction, obtained by minimizing different criteria. We conclude with an empirical evaluation of the naive sampled metrics and their corrected variants. To summarize, our work suggests that sampling should be avoided for metric calculation, however if an experimental study needs to sample, the proposed corrections can improve the quality of the estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research paper that applies online resource allocation algorithms to refugee resettlement, aiming to improve refugees' integration into local communities and employment prospects. By utilizing concepts from algorithm design, such as balancing resource utilization and maintaining capacity for future refugees, the authors were able to enhance the employability metric for resettlement agencies like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) by approximately 10%. This research not only addresses critical societal issues but also highlights the potential of algorithms to positively impact real-world outcomes for vulnerable populations, encouraging collaboration between algorithm designers and practitioners on important societal problems.

The Burrows-Wheeler Transform (BWT) is an invertible text transformation that permutes symbols of a text according to the lexicographical order of its suffixes. BWT is the main component of popular lossless compression programs (such as bzip2) as well as recent powerful compressed indexes (such as the r-index7), central in modern bioinformatics. The compressibility of BWT is quantified by the number r of equal-letter runs in the output. Despite the practical significance of BWT, no nontrivial upper bound on r is known. By contrast, the sizes of nearly all other known compression methods have been shown to be either always within a polylog n factor (where n is the length of the text) from z, the size of Lempel--Ziv (LZ77) parsing of the text, or much larger in the worst case (by an nε factor for ε > 0). In this paper, we show that r = O (z log² n) holds for every text. This result has numerous implications for text indexing and data compression; in particular: (1) it proves that many results related to BWT automatically apply to methods based on LZ77, for example, it is possible to obtain functionality of the suffix tree in O (z polylog n) space; (2) it shows that many text processing tasks can be solved in the optimal time assuming the text is compressible using LZ77 by a sufficiently large polylog n factor; and (3) it implies the first nontrivial relation between the number of runs in the BWT of the text and of its reverse. In addition, we provide an O (z polylog n)-time algorithm converting the LZ77 parsing into the run-length compressed BWT. To achieve this, we develop several new data structures and techniques of independent interest. In particular, we define compressed string synchronizing sets (generalizing the recently introduced powerful technique of string synchronizing sets11) and show how to efficiently construct them. Next, we propose a new variant of wavelet trees for sequences of long strings, establish a nontrivial bound on their size, and describe efficient construction algorithms. Finally, we develop new indexes that can be constructed directly from the LZ77 parsing and efficiently support pattern matching queries on text substrings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns a new incremental approach to mining data streams. It is known that patterns in a data stream may evolve over time. In many cases, we need to track and analyze the nature of these changes. In the paper, the probabilistic neural networks are considered as basic models for tracking changes in data streams. We present globally convergent stream data mining algorithms applied to problems of regression, classification, and density estimation in a time-varying (drifting) environment. The algorithms are derived from the Parzen kernel-based probabilistic neural networks working in the online mode. For each problem, a theorem is presented ensuring the L 2 convergence of the algorithm designed for tracking drifting regression, density, or discriminant functions. Illustrative examples explain in detail how to choose the bandwidth of the Parzen kernel and the learning rate of the online algorithm. The performance of all algorithms is shown in exemplary simulations. It should be noted that this paper is one of very few, in the existing literature, presenting mathematically justified stream data mining algorithms. • The incremental version of the Generalized Regression Neural Network (IGRNN) able to track drifting regression functions. • The incremental version of the Probabilistic Neural Network (IPNN) working in non-stationary environments. • Application of IPNN for tracking drifting discriminant functions. • Mathematical proofs of the L 2 convergence of all the proposed estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many real-life problems can be formulated as numerical optimization problems. Such problems pose a challenge for researchers when designing efficient techniques that are capable of finding the desired solution without suffering from premature convergence. This paper proposes a novel evolutionary algorithm that blends the exploitative and explorative merits of two main evolutionary algorithms, namely the Stochastic Fractal Search (SFS) and a Differential Evolution (DE) variant. This amalgam has an effective interaction and cooperation of an ensemble of diverse strategies to derive a single framework called Iterative Cyclic Tri-strategy with adaptive Differential Stochastic Fractal Evolutionary Algorithm (Ic3-aDSF-EA). The component algorithms cooperate and compete to enhance the quality of the generated solutions and complement each other. The iterative cycles in the proposed algorithm consist of three consecutive phases. The main idea behind the cyclic nature of Ic3-aDSF-EA is to gradually emphasize the work of the best-performing algorithm without ignoring the effects of the other inferior algorithm during the search process. The cooperation of component algorithms takes place at the end of each cycle for information sharing and the quality of solutions for the next cycle. The algorithm's performance is evaluated on 43 problems from three different benchmark suites. The paper also investigates the application to a set of real-life problems. The overall results show that the proposed Ic3-aDSF-EA has a propitious performance and a reliable scalability behavior compared to other state-of-the-art algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel adaptive generalized Nash equilibrium (GNE) seeking algorithm is designed, in order to address the non-cooperative game with private inequality constraints under high-dimensional input dead-zone. That is to say, the dead-zone dynamics may be thought of as a generic high-dimensional convex set, and the introduction of two methods distinguishes our works in seeking the GNE of non-cooperative games. On the one hand, a two-time-scale structure based on singular perturbation method is led into the design of GNE seeking algorithm, where the fast dynamics part rapidly eliminates the influence of input dead-zone, and the slow dynamics part drives the players' action to the GNE. On the other hand, adaptive penalty method is utilized to ensure the player's action enters the inequality constraints set without a prior estimation of centralized information for penalty parameters. The algorithm in this paper realizes complete distribution and parameter independence, making it easy to apply in practical programming. At last, several numerical examples regarding the electricity markets are employed to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper appends three proposed heuristic algorithms, viz. Initialization Algorithm, Fraction Repair Algorithm and Negative Repair Algorithm, to Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and extends its application to Pure Integer Linear Solid Transportation Problem (STP). The chief contribution of the paper is that the proposed Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO) algorithm discretizes the continuous search space of PSO so that it can operate in the discrete solution space of STP with any of the valid parameter settings. The Initialization Algorithm is developed to generate the sufficient number of random solutions for initiating HPSO with a diverse population of given size. Whereas Fraction Repair and Negative Repair Algorithms are developed to ensure that each successive population obtained with HPSO remains in the solution space of STP. The validity of HPSO is examined and illustrated by solving a numerical problem with certain parameter settings. Further, the HPSO demonstrates its ability to obtain an optimal or near optimal solution along with the alternate optimal solution, if it exists. It searches for the solutions even without adhering to the rigid conditions of traditional methods that every solution of STP must have a fixed number of non-zero decision variables. Moreover, the performance of HPSO is tested with three different parameter settings and compared amongst each other to analyze their significance in solving the problem. The performance of HPSO and the variants of parameters are statistically validated through an extensive experimental design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telemedicine provides remote online services for digital diagnosis and treatment via the Internet. However, there is a risk of data leakage during transmission. Therefore, data protection is an important challenge for telemedicine. Chaos is widely used in image, audio, and EEG encryption because of its unique characteristics of unpredictability, nonlinearity, and sensitivity to an initial state. However, some chaotic maps have various security issues. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a K-sine-transform-based coupled chaotic system (K-STBCCS), combining any two one-dimensional chaotic mappings to generate a new chaos mapping. To demonstrate the reliability of the system, this paper generates three new chaotic mappings using K-STBCCS and analyzes their performance. Using the chaotic mapping generated by K-STBCCS, this paper further proposes an EEG signal encryption scheme based on the confusion-diffusion principle. The purpose of confusion is to separate adjacent EEG signals, while the purpose of diffusion is to change the value of EEG signals. Among them, the diffusion operation uses positive and negative diffusion to reduce the correlation between the ciphertext and the original signals. The experimental results and security analysis show that the proposed EEG signal encryption scheme performs well and passes the rigorous cryptographic security test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telemedicine provides remote online services for digital diagnosis and treatment via the Internet. However, there is a risk of data leakage during transmission. Therefore, data protection is an important challenge for telemedicine. Chaos is widely used in image, audio, and EEG encryption because of its unique characteristics of unpredictability, nonlinearity, and sensitivity to an initial state. However, some chaotic maps have various security issues. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a K-sine-transform-based coupled chaotic system (K-STBCCS), combining any two one-dimensional chaotic mappings to generate a new chaos mapping. To demonstrate the reliability of the system, this paper generates three new chaotic mappings using K-STBCCS and analyzes their performance. Using the chaotic mapping generated by K-STBCCS, this paper further proposes an EEG signal encryption scheme based on the confusion-diffusion principle. The purpose of confusion is to separate adjacent EEG signals, while the purpose of diffusion is to change the value of EEG signals. Among them, the diffusion operation uses positive and negative diffusion to reduce the correlation between the ciphertext and the original signals. The experimental results and security analysis show that the proposed EEG signal encryption scheme performs well and passes the rigorous cryptographic security test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an enhanced hybrid chameleon swarm algorithm (CSA) is proposed and applied to the degree reduction problem of disk Wang–Ball (DWB) curve. CSA is a novel population-based algorithm inspired by the hunting behavior of chameleons, its simplicity and easy implementation make it applied to different fields. However, it suffers from premature convergence and easy to fall into local optimum, especially in the face of complex optimization problems. Therefore, this paper proposes an enhanced hybrid CSA (CCECSA, for short). Compared with the classic CSA, the proposed CCECSA mainly introduces three improvements: (1) The crisscross optimization algorithm is mixed to avoid premature convergence, in which the horizontal and vertical crossover can generate moderation solutions to increase the diversity of the population. (2) Elite guidance mechanism is introduced to speed up the convergence. (3) Competitive substitution mechanism is added to replace the worst individual, and an interference strategy is set to prevent the algorithm from falling into a local optimum. The efficiency and robustness of the proposed CCECSA are demonstrated by the comparison results with some advanced meta-heuristic algorithms on CEC2014, CEC2017, and 4 engineering design examples. In addition, for the degree reduction problem of DWB curves, the multi-degree reduction optimization models of its center curve and radius function are established respectively. At the same time, the optimal center curve and radius function of the approximating DWB curves of lower degree are obtained by the proposed CCECSA. The experimental results show that the proposed CCECSA achieves the optimal solution with better convergence and robustness. The source code of CCECSA is publicly available in the supplementary material related to this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper designs continuous-time algorithms with linear convergence for solving distributed convex optimization problems without a strongly convex condition. The proposed primal–dual algorithms operate under weight-balanced digraphs and the dual variables are not exchanged with neighbors, which makes the algorithm more efficient. To save communication resources, we propose a class of event-triggered communication (ETC) schemes, which includes static and dynamic counterparts with the latter being more effective in communication resource saving. Furthermore, using Lyapunov theory, we prove that the distributed event-triggered algorithms converge to the optimum set with exact linear convergence rates. Finally, we present a comparison example that validates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms in reducing communication burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the distributed online convex optimization problems with multiple coupled constraints over unbalanced digraphs, which are widely applied in diverse fields such as machine learning, smart grids, and resource allocation problems, etc. In such practical scenarios, multiple coupled constraints, where each coupled constraint might only contain a portion of all nodes, are more general and complex than global coupled constraints. Additionally, due to certain constraint conditions such as energy and communication limitations, each node can only exchange information with other nodes in an identical constraint. Besides, the network connectivity of practical constrained problems might not be only confined to one type of weight matrices. By adopting an augmented Lagrangian method, the multiple coupled constrained optimization problem is converted into a saddle-point problem. To tackle this problem, a novel double accelerated push–pull (DAPP) algorithm is proposed which concurrently employs row-stochastic (RS) and column-stochastic (CS) weight matrices. Specifically, each node pushes gradient information weighted by CS matrices to out-neighbors, while pulls dual variables fused by RS matrices from in-neighbors. Combined with CS matrices, the gradient tracking scheme is employed to promote the efficiency of tracking the averaged gradients. Furthermore, aiming at improving the convergence rate, the heavy-ball method is used to update both primal and dual variables. Then, rigorous theoretical results indicate that DAPP obtains the sublinear bounds of regret and constraint violation. Finally, the plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) charging problem is utilized to demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the optimal three-dimensional (3D) formation circumnavigation problem for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with relative measurement and an unknown moving target. First, the 3D formation circumnavigation errors under the relative measurement and directed topology, that is, the spherical enclosing along the normal direction, the latitude surrounding along the north direction, and the longitude formation along the east direction, are constructed. Then, radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) based adaptive estimation is designed for each UAV to approximate the unknown target velocity using relative information. Further, to achieve the optimal energy of 3D formation circumnavigation along the normal, north, and east directions with lowered data transmission cost, an event-triggered actor–critic algorithm is designed under limited neighbor and relative target information. The stability of the whole system is analyzed under continuous sampled and event sampled cases, respectively, and the Zeno phenomenon is excluded. The effectiveness is validated through simulation under cases of with and without random noise. Meanwhile, comparative simulations are performed to validate the system energy and convergence time of the proposed method in contrast with two relevant works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the fixed-time consensus of second-order multi-agent systems subject to matched and mismatched disturbances. The derivatives of disturbances are assumed to be bounded. A novel integral sliding mode-based observer is presented by utilizing the super-twisting algorithm to estimate the agent states. The estimations can achieve the convergence to the leader in a fixed time. Furthermore, the corresponding fixed-time controller is developed to make the agents converge to the estimated states. As the estimated states converge to the leader, the agents will track the leader states with the help of estimated states. In addition, the overall convergence of multi-agent systems is non-monotonic due to the disturbances. It is theoretically shown that the proposed control approach can maintain a bounded convergence and get the consensus of multi-agent systems in a fixed time. Some simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze direct current (DC) drive stability, including parameter uncertainty and perturbation in the feedback loop, by computing disk margins. Design/methodology/approach: Although the closed-loop stability analysis of a DC drive has been presented well in the referenced papers, the effect of parameter uncertainty and perturbation in the feedback loop has not yet been discussed well. In this study, the conventional and disk-based stability margins were measured and compared for the nominal parameters of the DC drive. Subsequently, the smallest disk-based margins that destabilize the feedback loop for a given perturbation are computed and compared with normal disk margins. Findings: The disk-based margin offered by the DC drive controlled by the JAYA-PID controller is disk gain margins (DGM) = 8.41 dB and disk phase margin (DPM) = 48.410 and the smallest disk-based margin offered is DGM = 1.51 dB and DPM = 9.950. In addition, the effect of the modeled uncertainty on the disk stability margins was analyzed, and it was observed that the maximum allowable parameter uncertainty with the JAYA controller was 73% of its nominal parameters. The simulation results were validated using an experimental testbed. Originality/value: This research work is not published anywhere else. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an improved iterative algorithm based on a Newton iterative algorithm, which is used to research the stochastic linear quadratic optimal tracking (SLQT) control for stochastic continuous-time systems. Firstly, a Newton iterative algorithm for solving stochastic algebraic Riccati equations (SAREs) is derived based on the Frechet derivative. Secondly, an improved iterative algorithm in an incremental form for indirectly solving SAREs is presented by combining the numerical iterative method with the incremental Newton iterative (INI) algorithm and introducing a tuning parameter. Under a suitable initial condition, the convergence of the improved iterative algorithm is talked over. Finally, numerical simulation experiments are carried out to compare our proposed improved iterative algorithm with some known works. The results show that the improved iterative algorithm has a faster convergence rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the multitask diffusion least mean square (MD-LMS) algorithm has been extensively applied in distributed parameter estimation and target tracking of multitask network. However, its performance degrades under colored input signals or impulsive noises. To overcome these two drawbacks, this paper introduces the subband adaptive filter (SAF) into a multitask network for the first time, and a robust multitask diffusion normalized M-estimate subband adaptive filtering (MD-NMSAF) algorithm is proposed, which solves the global network optimization problem based on the modified Huber (MH) function in a distributed manner, achieves robustness to impulsive noise, and significantly improves the convergence performance of the MD-LMS algorithm. Compared with existing robust multitask diffusion affine projection algorithms (MD-APAs), the computational complexity of the proposed MD-NMSAF algorithm is greatly reduced. In addition, we analyze the mean and mean-square stability conditions of MD-NMSAF, provide theoretical models characterizing the network mean square deviation (MSD) behaviors of transient and steady-state, and further verify their correctness by computer simulations. Simulation results under different network topologies, input signals, filter lengths and impulsive noise types fully demonstrate the performance advantages of the proposed MD-NMSAF algorithm over its competitors in terms of steady-state estimation accuracy and convergence speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose a new consumer value segmentation method for low-dimensional dense market datasets to quickly detect and cluster the most profitable customers for the enterprises. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, the comprehensive segmentation bases (CSB) with richer meanings were obtained by introducing the weighted recency-frequency-monetary (RFM) model into the common segmentation bases (SB). Further, a new market segmentation method, the CSB-MBK algorithm was proposed by integrating the CSB model and the mini-batch k-means (MBK) clustering algorithm. Findings: The results show that our proposed CSB model can reflect consumers' contributions to a market, as well as improve the clustering performance. Moreover, the proposed CSB-MBK algorithm is demonstrably superior to the SB-MBK, CSB-KMA and CSB-Chameleon algorithms with respect to the Silhouette Coefficient (SC), the Calinski-Harabasz (CH) Index , the average running time and superior to the SB-MBK, RFM-MBK and WRFM-MBK algorithms in terms of the inter-market value and characteristic differentiation. Practical implications: This paper provides a tool for decision-makers and marketers to segment a market quickly, which can help them grasp consumers' activity, loyalty, purchasing power and other characteristics in a target market timely and achieve the precision marketing. Originality/value: This study is the first to introduce the CSB-MBK algorithm for identifying valuable customers through the comprehensive consideration of the clustering quality, consumer value and segmentation speed. Moreover, the CSB-MBK algorithm can be considered for applications in other markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the multi-physical field-circuit co-simulation method coupling the Maxwell's and drift diffusion equations is proposed for the analysis of electromagnetic energy selective surface (ESS). To alleviate the universal feature that multi-physics simulation is extremely time-consuming, the space mapping algorithm is consulted and introduced into the transient calculation process. Thus, the searches for a convergent solution in nonlinear equations are regarded as an optimization procedure, which employs the mapped equivalent model to replace the high-cost multi-physics equations calculation. This operation can considerably minimize the number of multi-physics equations that must be computed, improving analysis efficiency. The great accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical results. As a result, this approach is an alternative tool to examine electromagnetic-circuit systems, particularly in high-power microwave scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new floating shock-fitting technique featuring the explicit computation of shocks by means of the Rankine–Hugoniot relations has been implemented on two-dimensional unstructured grids. This paper illustrates the algorithmic features of this original technique and the results obtained in the computation of the hypersonic flow past a circular cylinder and a steady Mach reflection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we present a new effective algorithm for the Schrödinger equation. This new method differs from the original Numerov method only in one simple coefficient, by which we can extend the interval of periodicity from 6 to infinity and obtain an embedded correct factor to improve the accuracy. We compare the new method with the original Numerov method by the well-known problem of Woods–Saxon potential. The numerical results show that the new method has great advantage in accuracy over the original. Particularly for the resonant state, the accuracy is improved with four orders overall, and even six to seven orders for the highest oscillatory solution. Surely, this method will replace the original Numerov method and be widely used in various area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Whale optimization algorithm (WOA), as an advanced optimization algorithm with simple structure, has been favored by various fields. However, there are some disadvantages of WOA, such as slow convergence speed, low precision and falling into local optimal value easily. In this paper, a novel improved whale optimization algorithm (IWOA) with multi-strategy and hybrid algorithm is proposed to overcome above shortcomings. Firstly, IWOA initializes the population by chaotic mapping to avoid the initial population distribution of WOA deviating from the optimal value. Secondly, IWOA combines the pheromone of the black widow algorithm and the opposition-based learning strategy to modify the population, which improves the convergence speed and the global performance of WOA respectively. Finally, the adaptive coefficients and the new update modes replace the original update modes, which makes the structure of WOA simpler and more accurate. In addition, the convergence of IWOA is also proved in this paper. On the one hand, to demonstrate the effectiveness of IWOA, 23 benchmark functions are used to test various performance of the algorithm. On the other hand, in order to prove the superiority of IWOA, the experimental results are compared and analyzed with other optimization algorithms. Simulation results show that IWOA proposed in this paper owns excellent performance in convergence speed, stability, accuracy and global performance, compared with other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe multi-itinerary optimization (MIO)--a novel Bing Maps service that automates the process of building itineraries for multiple agents while optimizing their routes to minimize travel time or distance. MIO can be used by organizations with a fleet of vehicles and drivers, mobile salesforce, or a team of personnel in the field, to maximize workforce efficiency. It supports a variety of constraints, such as service time windows, duration, priority, pickup and delivery dependencies, and vehicle capacity. MIO also considers traffic conditions between locations, resulting in algorithmic challenges at multiple levels (e.g., calculating time-dependent travel-time distance matrices at scale and scheduling services for multiple agents). To support an end-to-end cloud service with turnaround times of a few seconds, our algorithm design targets a sweet spot between accuracy and performance. Toward that end, we build a scalable approach based on the ALNS metaheuristic. Our experiments show that accounting for traffic significantly improves solution quality: MIO finds efficient routes that avoid late arrivals, whereas traffic-agnostic approaches result in a 15% increase in the combined travel time and the lateness of an arrival. Furthermore, our approach generates itineraries with substantially higher quality than a cutting-edge heuristic (LKH), with faster running times for large instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a generalized conjugate direction algorithm (GCD) is proposed for solving general coupled Sylvester matrix equations. The GCD algorithm is an improved gradient algorithm, which can realize gradient descent by introducing matrices P j (k) and T j (k) to construct parameters α (k) and β (k). The matrix P j (k) and T j (k) are iterated in a cross way to accelerate the convergence rate. In addition, it is further proved that the algorithm converges to the exact solution in finite iteration steps in the absence of round-off errors if the system is consistent. Also, the sufficient conditions for least squares solutions and the minimum F-norm solutions are obtained. Finally, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the GCD algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The event-triggered time-varying formation tracking for a class of second-order multi-agent systems (MASs) subject to a non-cooperative leader is investigated in this paper. First, in the presence of the unknown input of the leader and external disturbances, a distributed observer with adaptive parameters is put forward for followers to estimate the velocity tracking error. Then, based on the estimated tracking error and an auxiliary variable, a finite time formation controller is further constructed, which is updated depending on a pre-designed event-triggered mechanism. As a result, the desired time-varying formation configuration can be realized in finite time with less communication resource consumption. It's noted that the constructed formation strategy doesn't rely on any global information and thus is fully distributed. The stability of the controlled multi-agent system is proved rigorously and it's verified that event-triggered intervals are with a positive lower bound. At last, simulations are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the presented algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the problem of decentralized optimization to minimize a finite sum of local convex cost functions over an undirected network. Compared with the existing works, we focus on improving the communication efficiency of the stochastic gradient tracking method and propose an effective event-triggering decentralized stochastic gradient tracking algorithm, namely, ET-DSGT. ET-DSGT utilizes the event-triggering mechanism in which each agent only broadcasts its estimators at the event time to effectively avoid real-time communication, thus improving communication efficiency. In addition, we present a theoretical analysis to show that ET-DSGT with a decaying step-size can converge to the exact global minimum. Moreover, we show that for each agent, the time interval between two successive triggering times is greater than the iteration interval under certain conditions. Finally, we provide several simulations to demonstrate the effectiveness of ET-DSGT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federated learning (FL) has attracted significant attention in the machine learning community owing to its instinct local privacy awareness. Depending on how the data are distributed over the clients, FL problems can be divided into three categories, namely the horizontal FL (HFL), the vertical FL (VFL) and the hybrid FL (HBFL). Among them, the HBFL problem is the most challenging because each client neither owns the full set of data samples nor knows the complete feature information. While many FL algorithms have been developed for the HFL and VFL problems, unfortunately they cannot handle the HBFL problem. In this paper, we propose a new FL algorithm, termed as FedHD, that can solve the challenging learning task under the HBFL setting. Since the clients cannot perform local optimization on their own under the hybrid data, a tracking variable is introduced to enable the clients to track the global gradient information and update the model based on their local data. FedHD allows the clients to perform multiple steps of local stochastic gradient descent (SGD), and hence has improved communication efficiency. Theoretical analysis is conducted to show that FedHD has a O (1 / Q T) convergence rate, where Q denotes the local update number and T is the total number of communication rounds. Then we further reveal the insights on how various algorithm parameters impact on the convergence performance. Experiment results show that the proposed FedHD exhibits robust performance on the hybrid data, and is largely superior to the naive local training model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper solves the finite-time consensus problem for discrete time multi-agent systems (MASs) where agents update their values via linear iteration and the interactions between them are described by signed digraphs. A sufficient condition is presented that the agents can reach consensus on any given linear function of multiple initial signals in finite time, i.e., there exists an eventually positive Laplacian-based matrix associated with the underlying graph. We prove that the linear iterative framework "ratio consensus" developed for unsigned graphs in the literature can be extended to the computation for signed graphs with appropriate modifications. Our method weakens the limitation of the iterative framework on the "marginal Schur stability" of the weight matrix without increasing the computational complexity. Reaching average consensus on unsigned graphs as in the literature is regarded as a special case of our algorithm. Two illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the correctness of the proposed results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a resilient distributed consensus algorithm is proposed based on multi-agent system to defend against the Byzantine attack. Two attack scenarios including node attack and edge attack are considered and the differences between them are described, in which the edge attack scenario is seldom considered before. The assumption for a network under g -local attacks is relaxed from (2 g + 1) -robust directed graph to (g + 1) -robust one based on a novel filtering method. The convergence and optimality are guaranteed by theoretical analysis, which ensures all the agents without attack can make an agreement and converge to a certain range. The simulation results show that for the two attack scenarios, the proposed algorithm can converge to the optimal solution of the compensation problem and the original problem, respectively. The proposed algorithm is more effective and has faster convergence speed compared with the contrast one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to create a secure environment for state estimation and control design of a networked system composed of multiple dynamic entities and remote computational units, in the presence of disclosure attacks. In particular, both dynamic entities and computational units may be vulnerable to attacks and become malicious. The objective is to ensure that the input and output data of the benign entities are protected from the malicious parties as well as protected when they are transmitted over the network in a distributed environment. We propose a methodology integrating a novel double-layer cryptographic technique with an observer-based control algorithm to achieve the objective where the cryptographic technique addresses the security requirements and the control algorithm satisfies the performance requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An adaptive random competition strategy is designed. • A neighborhood crossover strategy to improve convergence speed and accuracy. • A more robust multi-strategy competitive-cooperative co-evolution algorithm is presented. In order to effectively solve multi-objective optimization problems (MOPs) and fully balance uniformity and convergence, a multi-strategy competitive-cooperative co-evolutionary algorithm based on adaptive random competition and neighborhood crossover, namely MSCOEA is developed in this paper. In the MSCOEA, a new adaptive random competition strategy is designed to determine whether one sub-population loses diversity through the performance. A random competition process is executed to increase the sub-population diversity in order to compete for participation opportunities in the next iteration. And the extra population is employed to store the found non-dominated solutions. A new neighborhood crossover strategy is designed to enhance the local search ability. Finally, three different types of multi-objective benchmark functions are selected to verify the effectiveness of the MSCOEA. The experiment results show that the MSCOEA can effectively balance convergence and uniformity, and obtains better optimization performance and robustness by comparing with other algorithms. The convergence performance of the adaptive random competition and the neighborhood crossover strategies are also analyzed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]